Jeff Kapler and Victor Seals

Jeff Kapler is a Cornell graduate and he currently works as a parole officer in an intensive supervision program in Hennepin County, Minnesota.  Intensive supervision is a form of parole that allows individuals early release from prison, based a positive evaluation of their behavior and rehabilitation progress while in prison.  The program offers release to inmates who are often serving very long sentences for serious crimes.  Intensive parole (frequent contact between a parole officer and a parolee) offers a way to reduce prison populations, promote integration into the community, and protect public safety.  Prior his work in intensive supervision, Kapler worked as a probation officer in Hennepin County, and he was involved in the establishment of one the nation’s first drug courts. 

Victor Seals was released from prison in Michigan after serving 15 years for robbery.  Unable to find work, he received permission to serve the remaining term of his parole in Minnesota, where Kapler served as his parole officer.  Seals successfully completed parole and now works as a plumber in the Twin Cities Area.  He has spoken in front of the Minnesota House of Representatives and is a board member of the Minnesota Citizens Council on Crime and Justice.  Kapler and Seals made a presentation entitled, "Alternatives to Incarceration" in Professor Chris Carlson's Criminal Justice course in April of 2007.